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NL DIVISION SERIES: CARDINALS v PHILLIES

October 4, 2011

Roy Oswalt

ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI: Game Three

Q. The last time you pitched a playoff game here, you pitched the Astros into the World Series. How was it that night when St. Louis fans all revved up after Pujols had hit the home run a couple days before that?
ROY OSWALT: Pretty amazing. First time the team got to go to the World Series in franchise history, so pretty amazing night.
It's funny, six years later, I'm kind of in the same spot, don't know if it's going to be the clinching game or a game to keep us alive. But back in St. Louis trying to move on to the next round.

Q. I saw you out in the bullpen a while ago working on some stuff. What were you working on? Was it just command stuff, or is it something you usually do the day before you pitch?
ROY OSWALT: I've actually started doing that probably five or six starts ago, and it seems like I have a little better feel when I get out there the next day. Didn't really throw a whole lot of pitches, just kind of more maintenance than anything.

Q. You've obviously faced the Cardinals many, many times in your career. Can you draw off that going into your start tomorrow? Will that help you out, do you think?
ROY OSWALT: Yeah, the team is a little bit different than in years past. They've still got the base guys here as far as Pujols has been here as long as I have and Molina has been here a couple years, faced him a couple times. But overall the whole lineup is a little bit different than what I've faced in years past. It's a totally different infield and outfield actually. But most of the guys I've faced on other teams, so probably know them better than some of the other teams for sure.

Q. Can you talk about the difference between how you're feeling now versus maybe a month ago or even two months ago, where you're at velocity wise, stuff wise?
ROY OSWALT: A lot better. A month ago was battling back from back pain. I was trying to pitch through it for so long that it just -- it was probably my fault trying to pitch through it too long. I should have just had it taken care of and gotten back out there a little bit earlier. But the last four or five starts, I felt real strong.

Q. Can you just talk a little bit about having all this time off between starts and just kind of how you've handled that in the past and how you're doing it this time? You talked about doing some maintenance today.
ROY OSWALT: Well, from the last start I think it's six days, so just one more day added. I threw my bullpen a little bit later than normal and then threw an extra one today. I should be fine. I felt pretty decent today. Overall everything seems to be working, and we'll see how it goes.

Q. You've pitched on Houston's staff with Clemens and Pettitte and big name people like that. How does this staff compare to that? Also, how is it to face Berkman after all these years?
ROY OSWALT: Well, at the beginning of the year everyone was asking me about Clemens and Pettitte, two Hall of Fame pitchers the way I look at it, and both guys deserve to be in the Hall of Fame. Great guys, great teammates. I learned a lot from both of them when they came over. I was only four years into my career, I think, when they came, and had a lot of fun and learned a lot from them.
But as far as all-around pitching staff, probably the best one I've been on here. You've got Doc Halladay top of his game the last four or five years. Cliff Lee has rounded off to be probably the best left-hander in the game. Cole Hamels a close second. All three of those guys, any other team is No. 1, no doubt about it. Any time you throw those guys out there, you're looking at it could be a complete-game shutout, could be something special and be a no-hitter. That's the kind of stuff they have. You don't really see that many pitchers in a row in any club have the ability to go deep in games like that. Most of the time you have one or two but not four or five. It's been fun, a lot of fun.
I just wish I could have stayed healthy the whole year and pitched alongside them.

Q. And Berkman?
ROY OSWALT: Berkman is a good friend of mine. Played together for a long time. Got a lot of chink hits off me so far, so we've got to maybe correct that tomorrow hopefully. But good hitter. He's come full circle from last year. He had a -- kind of went down here in Houston and went to the Yankees and picked it up a little bit and played well for them in the playoffs. But came over here, he loves it over here, he told me he loves it over here, and feels like his old self. He's not playing through pain and knees are not bothering him the way they did the last two years in Houston. It's been great for him, been probably one of the biggest key players down the stretch, especially when Pujols went down. He pretty much carried the team until he got back.

Q. Do you have to change your mindset at all depending on what happens here in Game 3? Tomorrow you could be facing elimination, you could be about to clinch when you're on the mound. Do you change that approach or your mindset, or how do you work that when you take that mound tomorrow depending on what happens tonight?
ROY OSWALT: I don't really change my approach. Like I said, I was in this situation six years ago in the same spot, just a little bit further over in the old stadium. My approach is to try to set the tone early, attack hitters. I'm not going to really do anything different. I'm not going to pitch like someone different. I'm going to pitch the way I've been pitching for 11 years now.
One thing you always tell yourself as a starting pitcher is give 100 percent and that's all you can give. Sometimes you get the breaks and sometimes you don't. Hopefully Cole (Hamels) goes out and throws a good game tonight and then we have the favor in our hands. They have to win the next two and we only have to win one.

Q. How much of the shorter bullpen today is kind of for back maintenance, and what are you doing during the week to make sure that that doesn't crop up?
ROY OSWALT: It's not really back maintenance, it's more feel maintenance as far as pitches. I actually bring the catcher up in front of the plate and try to get some muscle memory to keep the ball down. You bring the catcher up and you have to throw the ball down. So he moves back, you throw them down in the zone later in the game. I'd done that in Houston before I came over here and I kind of got away from it, and then I went back to it after I came off the DL.

Q. About a year and a half ago the training deadline, there was a lot of talk about you coming here. Did you think that was going to happen?
ROY OSWALT: I was hoping it was. You know, Houston was in the process of rebuilding, a lot of players there that was making a lot of money that didn't seem like we were going anywhere with the moves that was made and the decisions that was made. I felt like I wanted to get back in the playoffs. I didn't know how much longer I was going to play, so it worked out great. I mean, Philly was one of the top choices I wanted to go to, and Drayton (McLane) and I were is great friends, the owner for the Astros, and we talked about it for a while, and then they wanted to go young and start over. Kind of chain reaction, I left and then Lance left, and then this year Hunter (Pence) and Bourn left, so they've got some young players for us. Maybe they can build another team to get back into the playoffs.

Q. You just kind of alluded to not knowing how much longer you want to pitch. Have you thought about that much coming down the stretch here, and what are your thoughts on that in general?
ROY OSWALT: I'd like to play for a while longer for sure. I feel like I can still compete. When you get to the point where you don't feel like you can compete, that's when you start doubting yourself. But I feel like my stuff is still good enough to compete. When I'm healthy, I feel like I can do anything I did when I was 21. I know a lot more about pitching now than I did. I actually have a few more pitches than I did when I first started. I feel like I can do it another three or four or five years.

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